'It's a life too big and a story too extraordinary for just one book. Jimmy Barnes has lived many lives - from Glaswegian migrant kid to iconic front man, from solo superstar to proud father of his own musical clan. In this hugely anticipated sequel to his critically acclaimed bestseller, Working Class Boy, Jimmy picks up the story of his life as he leaves Adelaide in the back of an old truck with a then unknown band called Cold Chisel. A spellbinding and searingly honest reflection on success, fame and addiction; this self-penned memoir reveals how Jimmy Barnes used the fuel of childhood trauma to ignite and propel Australia's greatest rock'n'roll story. But beyond the combustible merry-go-round of fame, drugs and rehab, across the Cold Chisel, solo and soul years - this is a story about how it's never too late to try and put things right.' (Publication summary)
Dedication :
'For my Jane, I love you. I have loved you. I will always love you.
'And for my children. Your father has made a lot of mistakes. But when I look at you I know that I have done something right.
'For my grandchildren. This is a story from the dark past. Now you are here everything is all right.
'For Oliver and Snoop. You have lived through this with me. But even in the thick of it, you never judged me, and you wagged your tails whenever you saw me.
'I love you all.'
Working Class Boy
Pymble
:
HarperCollins Australia
,
2016
9359803
2016
single work
autobiography
'The time I have spent writing this book has caused me a lot of pain. Sometimes because of what I have remembered about my childhood and sometimes because of what I couldn't remember. It is funny how your mind blocks things out when those things can hurt you. There are a lot of things I wish I didn't remember... A household name, an Australian rock icon, the elder statesman of OzPubRock - there isn't an accolade or cliche that doesn't apply to Jimmy Barnes. But long before Cold Chisel and Barnesy, long before the tall tales of success and excess, there was the true story of James Dixon Swan - a working class boy whose family made the journey from Scotland to Australia in search of a better life. Working Class Boy is a powerful reflection on a traumatic and violent childhood, which fuelled the excess and recklessness that would define, but almost destroy, the rock'n'roll legend. This is the story of how James Swan became Jimmy Barnes. It is a memoir burning with the frustration and frenetic energy of teenage sex, drugs, violence and ambition for more than what you have. Raw, gritty, compassionate, surprising and darkly funny - Jimmy Barnes's childhood memoir is at once the story of migrant dreams fulfilled and dashed. Arriving in Australia in the Summer of 1962, things went from bad to worse for the Swan family - Dot, Jim and their six kids. The scramble to manage in the tough northern suburbs of Adelaide in the 60s would take its toll on the Swans as dwindling money, too much alcohol, and fraying tempers gave way to violence and despair. This is the story a family's collapse, but also a young boy's dream to escape the misery of the suburbs with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to join a rock'n'roll band and get out of town for good.' (Publication summary)
The Book Club [December 2017]
Sydney
:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
,
2017
15262028
2017
film/TV
For the final episode of The Book Club, host Jennifer Byrne joins regular panelists Marieke Hardy and Jason Steger, and guests Michael Williams and Benjamin Law. The panellists discuss "Five of the Best" from 2017, and best books as voted by readers. They are joined by Jimmy Barnes for a musical performance.
'Last year Jimmy Barnes published Working Class Boy, the opening instalment of a memoir that proved too long, and too thorny, to be contained in a single volume. That first book, which broke off just as Barnes was joining a nascent Adelaide band called Cold Chisel, was astonishing in several ways. It told the story of a childhood that seemed to have been ripped from the most baroquely grim Dickens novel and transplanted to the suburbs of 1960s Australia. And it found a starkly effective language in which to tell that story: a stripped-back prose, full of jagged stops and starts.' (Introduction)
Jimmy Barnes confronts his demons: 'For 40 years, I was drinking myself to death'
'Last year Jimmy Barnes published Working Class Boy, the opening instalment of a memoir that proved too long, and too thorny, to be contained in a single volume. That first book, which broke off just as Barnes was joining a nascent Adelaide band called Cold Chisel, was astonishing in several ways. It told the story of a childhood that seemed to have been ripped from the most baroquely grim Dickens novel and transplanted to the suburbs of 1960s Australia. And it found a starkly effective language in which to tell that story: a stripped-back prose, full of jagged stops and starts.' (Introduction)
Jimmy Barnes confronts his demons: 'For 40 years, I was drinking myself to death'
The Book Club [December 2017]
Sydney
:
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
,
2017
15262028
2017
film/TV
For the final episode of The Book Club, host Jennifer Byrne joins regular panelists Marieke Hardy and Jason Steger, and guests Michael Williams and Benjamin Law. The panellists discuss "Five of the Best" from 2017, and best books as voted by readers. They are joined by Jimmy Barnes for a musical performance.
